


The one doing the chasing (swallowing pride)

by Multifandom_damnation



Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Adorkable, Best Friends, Developing Relationship, Drinking & Talking, Gen, Gossip, Male-Female Friendship, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Platonic Cuddling, Teasing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-05-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:40:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24066727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Multifandom_damnation/pseuds/Multifandom_damnation
Summary: Michelle laughed, and Carlos felt it through his whole body, vibrating him to his very core until he too somehow found himself laughing along with her. It had been a long time since they had been able to just sit together like this and laugh without any consequences. It had been even longer since they’d had any day’s off to share with each other, and though Carlos loved TK with anything and everything he had in him, he cherished Michelle and the time they spent together. She was his best friend, after all.
Relationships: Michelle Blake & Carlos Reyes (9-1-1 Lone Star)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 27





	The one doing the chasing (swallowing pride)

**Author's Note:**

> So, a few things. This fic was inspired by this short video if you guys want to check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6di4VvhgJAU  
> And there's a few mentions of traditional food here which I got from this website: https://www.topuniversities.com/blog/top-dishes-latin-american-cuisine  
> I don't know what Carlos's ethnicity is in the show, but some googling told me that Rafael Silva is Brazillian, so all the meals that I included in this fic are Brizillian ones that come from this list. Just to be on the safe side. Also, side note, those chipá’s sound so fucking delicious??  
> Anyway, I just think that the close relationship between Carlos and Michelle in the show is so interesting?? Like, they hang out at each others houses?? Carlos lets Michelle get out of crimes and things, and instead of arresting her, he drops her off at work?? He helps her search for her missing sister without any sort of judgment?? She cares about his personal life?? I don't know, I just love the bond that they share and hope we get to see more of it in the show?? Because I personally love it. And I know that a lot of people don't like Michelle or her actress, but I think she's actually really interesting and nothing I've really seen before. But to be fair, I don't really watch many of these kinds of shows, so maybe she's only unique to me. IDK. I just don't really see close bonds like that?? Oh well, that's just my rambling. I hope you enjoy this x it was fun.

It was one of the infrequent occurrences where the work gods had granted them days off at the same time, and here they found themselves on Carlos’s couch, watching TV with a couple of beers, their feet curled up on the cushions and their torsos hidden under a couple of heavy blankets. 

Michelle had spent most of the morning at Iris’s tent, catching her up to speed on the most current events and what she’s missed since she’s been gone. She even invited Carlos to meet her officially, and Carlos had more than willingly agreed. He had spent the morning with TK at the firehouse, watching the other firefighters get ready for their shift while they held hands under the table and shared a coffee together first thing in the morning. He had left when they rushed out for a call, and TK had sent him a text to let him know that the day would be busy and that communication between them would be sparse, and Carlos had called Michelle over instead.

Now they sat together, closer than they had been in weeks, calmer than they had been in months, sharing a beer. The TV painted their skin in bright colours as they watched re-runs and news reports. Not really something that you’d want to be doing on your days off, listening for any sign of a job you could be doing, but they never really had much common sense between them. They kept their radios on, active and nearby, just in case.

“I can’t believe you watch this crap,” Carlos said as he waved his hand at the TV. “We have enough going on in our own lives. Why do you care how they do it in England? It’s the same thing, isn’t it?”

“No,” Michelle said easily. “Nothing like it, actually. For starters, they drive on the wrong side of the road,” Carlos scoffed, and Michelle turned to grin at him. “Besides, you won’t understand. This show is about my job, not yours. And it’s mostly about dispatch. I don’t know enough about their role than I should other than where they send me.”

“I know someone from dispatch. Well, I know the husband of a dispatcher. He works with TK,” Carlos said as he watched the familiar flashing multi-coloured lights brighten the room in blue and reds. “I think her name is Grace.”

Humming, Mischelle put the TV on mute and turned to face him, resting her face on her arm across the back of the couch. “Speaking of TK, how’s _that_ going?”

“What, you want to know how my relationship is going?” Carlos said sceptically as raised his eyebrows. “I guess you really _do_ care,”

“Of course, I care,” Michelle slapped Carlos on the shoulder and he pretended like she’s hurt him. “You never talk about your personal life. I want to know more about how it’s going with TK other than the fact that sometimes it gets ‘weird’ when apparently it shouldn’t? Though, as far as I’m concerned, relationships always get weird at some stage but that’s not for me to judge.”

“I don’t know what to tell you,” Carlos laughed under his breath. “I mean… it’s great so far. He’s lovely. He’s kind. And considerate. And caring.”

Something flickered in Michelle’s eyes as a coy smirk curled her lips upwards and she looked at the way Carlos fiddled with the necklace that hung from around his throat, a gift she knew was from TK, and one that Carlos rarely, if ever, took off. “Uh-huh,” she said, trying and failing to hold back her amusement.

Embarrassed, Carlos turned away and stretched his arms above his head. “Alright, I get it. I thought we made a pact not to mock each other’s relationship decisions anymore?”

“Don’t look at me, _I’m_ not mocking you. I think it’s cute. TK’s a great kid,” Michelle said, and Carlos tilted his head to look at her, not seeming convinced. “And it helps that he’s not hard to look at, either.”

“ _There_ it is,” Carlos laughed.

“What?” Michelle asked, and when Carlos looked at her again in that doubtful way he did, she laughed too. “I’m not wrong. He’s got his dads good looks. In fact, everyone in that damn firehouse is not sore on the eyes. I don’t feel so bad about having to hang out there so much anymore.”

For a moment, it was just them, just like old times, and it felt like nothing in the world could ever beak this peace between them, just two old friends shooting the shit and sharing a beer. But then the flashing lights shone on the scene again and snapped them out of it. “Come on,” Michelle elbowed him in his side. “Give me the goss. I wanna hear all about it. Don’t leave me hanging.”

Carlos shrugged, but he couldn’t keep himself from smiling. “I don’t know what you want me to tell you. It’s going great so far. I’m not sure if we’re calling ourselves a couple yet, but we certainly feel like it. He’s been staying here sometimes. Accidently, but still.”

“Accidently?” Michelle snorted. “He’s got his clothes in your bedroom, and there’s an extra toothbrush in the shower. That doesn’t sound ‘accidental’ to me.”

“I don’t think his dad wants him to stay here too often,” Carlos said. “Which I understand, so we’ve been taking it slow.”

“What, Owen doesn’t approve of your relationship?”

“Nah, it’s not that,” Carlos said. He remembered TK’s face when Carlos had said goodbye to him at work, and the way Owen watched them from upstairs. Calculating and cool. Yet loving. It was odd, yet nice. “I know why they moved here, what happened in New York. Why TK still lives with his dad at 27. I understand why he doesn’t really want to let TK out of his sight too often. But he trust his son, and I like to think that he trusts me too, so he’s letting it happen slowly. TK spends nights here sometimes. Nothing more than 24 hours, but still. It’s nice. But it’s strange not being able to go over to his place.”

Michelle made a face. “Yeah, that would be weird. Spending the night with your boyfriend while his dad is in the next room?” she shivered, comically, and Carlos laughed. “I guess Owen didn’t consider that part of the arrangement, huh?”

“I don’t think either of them considered TK finding someone the first month he moved here,” Carlos said. “I think they were expecting that after a year or two he would fall in love and by then he would be feeling much better and Owen wouldn’t need to keep such a close eye on him, but that’s not what happened at all.”

“Is he still going to his AA meetings?”

Carlos sent her a look. “How do you know that?”

“His dad told me one night. But I don’t think he meant to, so don’t tell him I know,” she replied. “I think it’s great that he’s trying to handle his problems. And he’s a lovely kid, too.”

“Yeah,” Carlos said, a little dreamily, and Michelle watched him closely. “He really is. Cute, too. He does these things sometimes that he doesn’t even realize he does, and it’s adorable.”

Michelle laughed as she ran her hand through her hair. “Does this kid have _any_ flaws?”

“Not really. Not to me, at least,” Carlos shrugged. “He’s a nervous kid. He has his… _ticks_ , I suppose. He bites his lip, taps his foot, chews on the string of his hoodie, wiggles his fingers. Other people may think they’re annoying habits, but I just think they’re endearing.”

“Are you getting any crap for it at the station?”

“Unless you count them thinking I betrayed the team for dating a fireman, then no, not that I’ve noticed,” Carlos said. “You know that they’re’s sort of a rivalry between the firefighters and police officers.”

“Don’t I know it. Us paramedics are right in the middle of it,” Michelle said, and Carlos knew she was right. It was less of a rivalry and more of a competition, and the paramedics tended to make sure things didn’t get too out of hand. “Have you introduced him to your family yet?”

The realization that Carlos would probably have to do that at some point hit him like a tonne of bricks, and he blinked hard as he thought about how that would go. “Oh, god no,” he said, and Michelle understood. She had met his family before, and while they certainly meant well and loved Carlos with everything they had, they tended to be a little overbearing. Everyone Carlos brought home was immediately part of the family, and they would be invited to every family function and celebration. “Tia would probably show up to the station with a pot full of feijoada without even telling me.”

Humming, Michelle leant closer to him and Carlos made some room so she could lay against his side with her feet up on the armrests. “I can see it now. You know, she once brought me a tinfoil tray of her empanada’s to my work, and I ended up having to share them because there was just so many. But, let me tell you, I could go for a plate of your mothers famous chipá’s right now.”

“Well,” Carlos said as he put his empty beer down on the coffee table and wrapped his arm around her. “Next time I see her, I’ll let her know to make you a care package.”

“You don’t think that will end in disaster?” Michelle said. “She’d probably pack your car full of a little bit of everything.”

“She’s a very giving person.”

The TV was still going on in the background, and while it was muted, they knew exactly what was going on. There was blood all over the grass. Police officers had a man in cuffs, lying face-down on the ground, squirming as a woman in uniform sat on his legs. Firetrucks blocked the road as a man was pulled from a car, the roof removed and discarded to the side, as paramedics with gloves did compressions and staunched bleeding and tried to keep the man alive. Another officer was taking a statement from a shaken mother holding a toddler. The firefighters were putting their equipment away in the truck, and watching from a distance. 

“I guess even in England, the world is still terrible,” Michelle said. “People are always dying, and life is always terrible towards those who don’t deserve it. I wish I could tell people that you should make the most of it while you can. It doesn’t last.”

Carlos looked down at her, but all he could see was the top of her head and her long brown hair that flowed over her shoulders. “I feel like that’s a very pointed statement. Are you talking about me?”

Sighing, Michelle tilted her head to meet his eyes, and they were full of love and adoration. Almost the same thing he saw when he looked into TK’s eyes. He was surprised to make the connection. “You’re my best friend, Carlos. And you have no idea how happy I am to see that you’ve finally found someone who loves you with everything. TK’s a good kid. He has his flaws. He has his struggles. But I know that you’ll fix all his broken and jagged pieces and rough edges with love and care and kindness. I’m just… I’m proud of you.”

“Proud of me?” Carlos managed through the emotion in his throat. It made his voice thick and his eyes sting. “I don’t think I’ve given you any real reason to be proud of me.”

Rolling her eyes, Michelle shook her head, and Carlos felt her hair tickle and brush against the exposed skin of his neck and collarbone. “Oh, Carlos, you have no idea. I’m watching from an outside perspective, but you’re so deep in it, you have no idea what’s happening. You’re head over heels for this boy, and you barely even know him. I never expected this to happen, you know. It wasn’t too long ago when you wouldn’t even open up to the idea of love, of finding someone, and had completely cut yourself off from that part of yourself. I’m proud that you’ve… found that again. And I’m glad that you’ve found it with TK.”

Carlos snorted. “If you think that _I_ was shut off to relationships, you have no idea how hard it was at the beginning with TK. He didn’t even know what he wanted. I would pull one way and he would push the other. I’m not going to say that I didn’t enjoy how wild and desperate he was but… you know me. I’m a wine and dine kind of guy when it comes down to it. TK is the exact opposite. I have never been kissed by anyone the way TK would kiss me. Kinda took my breath away, actually.”

Michelle chuckled and curled up on his chest, resting her head on his shoulder. “You have no idea how it makes me feel to hear you talk like that. I’m glad you’ve finally found what you’ve been searching for.”

“What? A way out of this embarrassing conversation?”

“Happiness.”

That made him pause. Carlos hadn’t expected that, and he didn’t really know what to say, but he knew that she was right. “Yeah. I guess I am pretty happy. It kind of snuck up on me, you know?”

“It tends to do that,” Michelle said.

“Well, we’ve both found what we’ve been looking for,” Carlos said. “I’ve found happiness and love with TK. You’ve found closure with your sister. It’s been a pretty great few weeks for both of us.”

“Yeah,” Michelle agreed. “I suppose you’re right. Even if you are dating Owen’s boy, but I’m happy to let that pass.”

“Oh, so _now_ you have a problem with it?”

“It’s not a problem, really, but now it means that I’ll be seeing a lot more of Owen’s ugly mug at gatherings.”

“Ugly? You have no idea how much product he uses. He has the most insanely advanced skin care regiment that I have ever seen.”

“Well, at least his son inherited the good looks without having to use any extra help,” Michelle laughed. “Lucky you, Officer Reyes.”

“Shut up, Paramedic Captain Blake,”

Michelle laughed, and Carlos felt it through his whole body, vibrating him to his very core until he too somehow found himself laughing along with her. It had been a long time since they had been able to just sit together like this and laugh without any consequences. It had been even longer since they’d had any day’s off to share with each other, and though Carlos loved TK with anything and everything he had in him, he cherished Michelle and the time they spent together. She was his best friend, after all. 

She picked up the remote from the ground and flipped through the channels, the dispiriting first responders show disappearing from the screen as well as the flashing coloured lights, and somehow Carlos felt relieved as Michelle passed some much more light-hearted cartoons and a Natural Geographic episode as well. “How about we see what kind of crapy restaurant Gordan Ramsey is visiting today, huh?”

“Sure,” Carlos said. “We’ll see if their cooking is just as bad as yours.”

“Oh my _god_ ,” Michelle said, and she slapped him in the shoulder. “You love my cooking!”

“I tell you that I love your cooking,” Carlos corrected. “There’s a difference between telling you I love it and then heading to McDonald’s to a real meal as soon as I leave your place.”

Michelle narrowed her eyes at him and pocked him at the chest. “You are a really mean friend, Carlos Reyes.”

Chuckling, Carlos surged forward and wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled him into his chest. “Nah, you still love me.”

After a moment, Michelle stopped struggling and started to laugh as well. “Yeah,” she said. “I guess I do.”

**Author's Note:**

> In AUS, they air a lot of 911 dispatch shows. One is all about taking the calls and dealing with the phone end, and the other is about the people in the ambulance being sent to different calls and we get to meet the patients and talk to them when they're healthy and all that. So that's the show that they're watching. 
> 
> Also??? It took every fibre in my being to change "Maccas run" to "a drive down to McDonald's" and I feel filthy for it.


End file.
